Piano-forte action



H. KETTBN. Piano-Forte Action.

No. 224,091. Patented Feb. 3, 1880.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY KETTEN, OF PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOE TO OHIOKERING & SONS,

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PIANO-FORTE ACTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 224,091, dated February3, 1880,

Application tiled December 13, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY KETTEN, of Paris, France, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Piano-Forte Actions and I do hereby declarethe same to be described in the following specilication and representedin the accompanying drawing, which denotes aside elevation of agrandpianoforte hammer and the operative mechanism thereof asprovidedwith my invention, the nature of which is duly set forth in theclaims hereinafter made.

The object of my iniprovement is to enable what is termed rapidrepeating of the hammer to be accomplished with certainty and ease, andto cause the hammer inrepeating not only to always rebound from thespring, but to beheld up to the necessary extent with respect to, orprevent it from dropping too far 2o from,the spring preparatory t0 eachdepression of the key.

Without the auxiliary springs hereinafter mentioned there is, in a rapidrepeating, a liability of the hammer to either not properly fall 2 5from the string, or to rebound too far, or not to be held up sufcientlyfor the key or its jack to properly actuate it, (the said hammer.)

In .carrying out my invention I employ with the hammer A and the underhammer or ele- 3o vator, I3, auxiliary springs, one of which is shown ata and the other at b in the drawing. The first spring-viz., that markeda-is fastened to thev block c, to which the hammer A is hinged, and itprojects over the tail-block d 3 5 of the hammer in manner asrepresented. The

other spring, which, in this instance, is ahclical one, is arrangeddirect-ly underneath the under hammer or elevator, B, and is supportedon a shelf or bar, C.

The main operative spring of the under hammer, B, and jack D is shown atE, it being connected to them by loops c df, and 'pivoted at its vertexto a projection, e, extending down from the bar O.

The key is shown at F and the back catch of the hammer at Gr. On the keybeing depressed so as to cause the hammer A to be thrown up by the underhammer acted on by thejack, such hammer A, just before it meets thestring, will be forced in contact with the 5o auxiliary spring' a. Infallin g the hammer departs from the spring a. Yhile the helical springb aids in holding the under hammer up, it eases its fall upon the headof the jack and co-operates to advantage with the spring a while therepeating is being performed.

In practice it is found that with my improved action there is great easein playing, and that very rapid repeating can be accomplished withoutany danger, compz'natively 6o speaking, of the main hammer not properlydropping from the string or the under hammer or elevator not being heldup after passage of thejack out of the notch of the said elevator.

Vhat, therefore, I claim as my invention is as follows:

l. rlhe piano-action consisting of the key F, hammer A, under hammer orelevator, B, jack D, and springE, arranged and applied as rep- 7oresented, in combination with the auxiliary spring I), adapted to thesaid elevator and supported and arranged substantially as set forth.

2. The piano-action consisting ofthe key F, hammer A, under hammer orelevator, I5, `jack D, and spring E, arranged and applied asrepresented, in combination with the auxiliary springs a and b, adaptedto operate with the hammer and the elevator substantially as set 8oforth.

IIENRY KETTEN.

IVitneSSes:

EDwD. M. READ, JN0. T. MOORE.

